20th Century Britain: A New Consensus? 1990-2001

The fall of Margaret Thatcher left a legacy that was both contested and divisive. During the 1990s, the Conservative Party, under the impact of divisions on Europe and on economic policy, began to fragment. But, after four election defeats, Labour, under Tony Blair, who relabeled the party New Labour, seemed to be adopting some of the main tenets of Thatcherism. To what extent was there a new consensus in the 1990s, and were the policies of the New Labour government, elected in 1997, an extension of Thatcherism or a repudiation of it?

For transcript and download versions of this lecture, please visit the event’s page on the Gresham College website: Britain in the Twentieth Century: A New Consensus? 1990-2001